As everybody else says. Go with what you can find if you don't require gpio.
If you do require gpio and have a usb port handy, there is a module for you: Adafruit FT 232H
this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
26 points (93.3% liked)
Asklemmy
55243 readers
350 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy ๐
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- !lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~
founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
It really depends on what you want to use it for. Answers could be anything from a mini pc to an esp32
Whatever old hardware you got lying around is pretty great. Especially old laptops because they're usually power efficient.
And in terms of tutorials just plain old Linux stuff should work everywhere.
If you are not using the gpio you should look at mini PCs instead. More expandable and runs x86 processors, not to mention abundant on second hand markets.
Used mini PCs, Chromeboxes, or laptops (the kind with removable batteries). As long as GPIO pins are not needed, most things can be replicated with minimal effort on Debian amd64. And when I do need GPIO, I can usually get away with an Arduino.
If you wanna go real crazy, take a look at these:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_PSoC
They have integrated hardware, so they are great for all sorts of electronics projects. A bit more towards electrical engineering than raspberry pi though.
Rockchip CPU based boards are much more price efficient and software is pretty good too. And Pi has the awful micro HDMI port